Saturday, December 30, 2023, 7:30 p.m.-9:15 p.m., in the German Theatre hall

Nadirs

by Herta Müller –– Directed by Niky Wolcz

Adaptation: Niky Wolcz, Valerie Seufert, Ulla Wolcz
Nadirs is a collection of short stories written by Banat born writer Herta Müller. The German State Theatre Timişoara presents the absolute premiere of the staging of one of the author's texts. At an age of maturity, the narrator remembers her childhood in Niţchidorf, her school years, the Sundays at the church, the dances and then the soirees and city experiences. She passes once more through the stations of those times and brings back to life characters from the past. She relives her own childhood fears, the arguments between her parents and the petty daily shams of the villagers by portraying them from a subjective perspective that is lacking in neither warmth nor humour.

Premiere: September 29, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
Duration: 01:45

Cast

The Narrator
Isa Berger

Wendel
Radu Brănici (a.G.)

The Narrator as a Kid
Mina Șelariu (a.G.)

The Mother
Ioana Iacob

The Father
Alexandru Mihăescu

The Grandmother
Ida Jarcsek-Gaza

The Grandfather
Franz Kattesch

The Aunt
Enikő Blénessy

Käthe
Daniela Török

The Great-Grandmother / A Neighbor / A schoolgirl
Simona Vintilă

The Great-Grandfather / A Neighbor
Daniel Ghidel

The Shadow Man / The Man with the Matchbox
Harald Weisz

A Girl with braids
Silvia Török

A Witch
Tatiana Sessler-Toami

Toni / The first Gravedigger / A neighbor
Yannick Becker

The Veterinary / The Organ Treadler/ The Postman / The second Gravedigger
Rareș Hontzu

The Pastor / The soldier
Boris Gaza

Heini
Ștefan Bogdan (a.G.)

The Teacher / A Neighbor
Isolde Cobeţ

A Bathing Whore
Olga Török

The Neighbors / The Schoolgirls
Dana Borteanu

The Neighbors / The schoolgirls
Aida Olaru

The Neighbors / The Schoolgirls
Alma Diaconu

A neighbor
Richard Hladik

Stage orchestra:
Ioan Varadi - percussion; Aurel Pișleagă - trumpet; Sorin Steia - accordion; Emil Zău - trumpet; Titus Sărăcuț - tuba

Appearances in movie scenes:

The third Gravedigger: Josef Kradi (a.G.)
Kathi: Teodora Dan (a.G.)
Lorenz: Thomas Griesbacher (a.G.)
The Business Partner: Emilian Roşculescu (a.G.)

In other roles in movie scenes:

Eva Bancea (a.G.), David Dămăcuș (a.G.), Ema Diaconescu (a.G.), David Săracu (a.G.), Luca Săracu (a.G.), Antonia Șurianu (a.G.)

Stage direction
Niky Wolcz (a.G.)

Stage & Light-Design
Helmut Stürmer (a.G.)

Costumes
Zsolt Fehérvári (a.G.)

Film direction
Bogdan George Apetri (a.G.)

Assistant director and children care
Isolde Cobeţ

With participation
Ulla Wolcz (a.G.)

Assistant set decorator
Zsolt Fehérvári (a.G.)

Costume assistant
Dana Borteanu

Choreographic advice
Tiberiu Palikucsan (a.G.)

Choreographic and ethnographic advice
Edith Singer (a.G.)

Dramaturgy
Valerie Seufert (a.G.)

Technical direction
Costinel Stănescu

Make-up
Bojita Ilici
Adriana Unguraș (a.G.)

Choreography Assistance
Olga Török

New footage for the 2023 film version
Cristian Ienciu

Press excerpts

"It's not easy to stage the poetic language, so little connected to the visual language of the theatre, of the Nobel Prize laureate – and, without a doubt, an essential part of the show in Timişoara was played by the scenography of Helmut Stürmer -, setting and costumes (especially the setting) that recreate the universe of the German-speaking village, closed on itself and obsessively maintaining its "values", fiction of a distinct lifestyle."

Iulia Popovici, in Observator cultural

"Nadirs is a show in which memory is the main character; it is a staging that collates not only texts, but also bits and pieces of collective and personal memory. It is as if we witness the time stained pages of a family photo album being flipped. Recovery is made with candour, but not without irony, based on the stories. […] The setting suggests a world distorted by time, struck by the realities of an age and deformed by the logic of dream. Costumes, too, recreate the local ambient so that, in visual terms, we are transported to Niţchidorf, the place where everything and nothing much happens. […] Group scenes are coherent. Eszter Tompa (Herta as a grown-up) performs very well as she combines the reserve of the grown-up with the joy felt by the child. Mara Bugarin (Herta as a child) acts naturally and vigorously, and good parts are also those played by Ida Gaza (the grandmother), Ioana Iacob (the mother) or Radu Vulpe (the father). The show is extensive, but flows smoothly between the folds of memory, bringing back to surface a time of childhood garnished with told and untold stories, with fears accumulated during the night. It's a very powerful image of the village boiling under the rule of non-action, of the family that is simultaneously experiencing resignation, unhappiness and illusions."

Daniela Magiaru, in Orizont

"A lively show which does not, even for a minute, lose the attention of the audience, where humour deliberately eliminates any trace of pathetic expression and is perfectly consonant with stage dynamics. Short scenes, each with their own development and charm, succeed one another in a stirring tempo, so that the history of an entire community is being painted before the eyes of the spectator. Both war and deportation become easily fathomable through the eyes of the little Swabian who tells the story in the 1st person, maintaining perfect balance between objectivity, irony and candour! This equation will be kept during the entire performance, which is never lagging (what a rare thing to behold in Romanian theatre!), outstandingly performed by Tompa Eszter as the Storyteller, as well as by her other numerous colleagues on the stage."

Cristina Rusiecki, in Cultura

"The director should be credited for how he worked with the entire team of GSTT, leading them with conviction and accentuating the qualities of its members in short, rhythmic sequences, played rather laconically and supported by movement and gestures."

Alexandru Al. Şahighian, in: Observator Cultural.ro

"[...] the synthetic setting of the always-inspired Stürmer gathers as in a magical torchlight the elements of a universe that is at times realistic, other times oneiric, or expressive and functional. Therefore, in the front stage puddle, as realistic as it gets, a sign of isolation, the corpse of a horse, which appears to be still breathing, or a TV set flickering, while the village madwoman wanders to her world of delusions, which blends with the images of the film on the background."

Doina Papp, in: revista22.ro